The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 776: Befriending the Wise Ministers

Blood slowly seeped out from under the body of the leader of the Bordered Blue Banner, spread around, and bloomed into a blood flower.

"It's too easy for you to die."

Qi Meng wiped his sword on the corpse, sheathed it, took a deep breath, stepped over the corpse, opened the tent, and walked towards the two Geshiha guarding the door. He said in Jurchen:
"Dibala Nikandi Laoniye, the capsule is no need to Sada!"

What this means is that the Second Prince wants to take a nap and must not be disturbed! You guys stay outside and don't let that bastard Li Yongfang in!
Goshiha put down his sword, bumped Qi Meng's right shoulder with his left shoulder, hugged him in greeting, and then stood at the door like a stone sculpture, motionless.

Qi Meng nodded approvingly, and led Shen Lian, Zhang Chao, and others out of the Bordered Blue Banner Central Army Camp. Without looking back, he walked westward. After walking a few dozen steps, Zhang Chao whispered, "What are you doing?"

"Master Qian, killed?"

Qi Meng nodded: "The head is not cut off. It is too conspicuous and inconvenient to carry."

Pei Dahu said, "I don't want the empty silver. The head of the Second Prince is worth eight thousand taels!"

Qi Meng said: "Old Pei, there will be money."

Shen Lian took out the signal arrow from his horse and was about to shoot it into the sky, but Qi Meng stopped him and said:
"There are a lot of people here, go a few steps forward."

The group walked two miles west and came to the edge of the camp. The tents were obviously sparser. From a distance, they could see a few guards leaning against a haystack, leaning on wooden sticks and taking a nap.

Qi Meng took two steps at a time and grabbed a Baoyi. The Baoyi was suddenly pulled out, his face pale.

"Nikan is here, and you, a dog slave, are still slacking off. Let's go kill Nikan!"

When the baoyi soldiers heard that Nikan was coming for a night attack, they looked surprised.

"Master, wasn't Nikan defeated? The Khan killed Dusong, so why is Nikan still here to die?"

"over there!"

Qi Meng pointed to the bonfire burning in the distance. In the shadow of the fire, some Later Jin soldiers fell down.

"Master, don't worry. They are here to die. This servant will definitely kill them..."

Zhang Chao raised his sword and chopped the speaking eunuch to the ground. Seeing this, the remaining two eunuchs screamed and ran away.

Qi Meng was about to spur his horse to chase after him when Shen Lian took out his bow and drew his arrow.

The bowstring vibrated, and the two eunuchs who had escaped a hundred steps away fell to the ground.

Qi Meng said: "Good shot, two birds with one stone."

Shen Lian said: "If you want to learn, I will teach you."

Just as they were about to escape from the camp, two white-armored soldiers appeared in front of them to stop them.

"No galloping of horses in the army!"

Qi Meng didn't even look at it and said loudly:

"Nikan attacked at night and killed many warriors of our Bordered Blue Banner. Second Prince has ordered all Niulu to dispatch troops to the west to intercept them!"

After saying this, he did not even look back, quickened his horse's pace, and led everyone to continue galloping westward.

~~~~
On the sixth day of March in the forty-seventh year of the Wanli reign, Liu Jing, commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army and general of Liaodong, led his troops back to Shenyang and falsely claimed that the Eastern Route Army had won a great victory in the Dong-E Road. In this battle, 30,000 Eastern Tartars were annihilated, the Bordered Blue Banner was destroyed, and the bandits Huang Taiji, Manggurtai and others were killed in battle. The military supervisor Kang Yingqian, the captain Liu Zhaosun and others had gone to Hetuala to pursue the Jiannu, and they would wait for the army to rest for a while before sweeping away the enemy.

When the news of the Eastern Army's great victory was heard by the officials in Shenyang, including the General Yang Hao, the Imperial Censor Wang Keshou, and the Governor Zhou Yuchun, they initially suspected it was fake. After all, the Eastern Army was the weakest in terms of manpower and firearms, but they had never expected that they could defeat the Bordered Blue Banner in one fell swoop and kill Amin Huang Taiji...
On the seventh day of the third lunar month, Liu Jing requested to lead his army into the city for rest and recuperation. Yang Hao refused, citing the presence of "many Zhejiang soldiers in the city and discord between the northern and southern troops." This further strained the relationship between Liu and Yang, who were already on bad terms. Liu Dadao had previously manipulated Yang Hao during the Wanli Korean War, and during the Battle of Sarhu, the Eastern Army was allocated minimal supplies and firearms.

Seeing that the city refused to open the gates, the thousands of soldiers surrounding the city made loud noises and clamors, accusing the court of being unfair to them, and some even drew their bows and shot arrows at the top of the city walls.

The southern soldiers stationed on the city wall did not wait for orders from their superiors and fired back arrows. Seeing that the two sides had started fighting, the Liaodong Governor and the Imperial Censor stepped forward to persuade them:

"God is merciful, Yang Jinglie, are you going to watch your own people fighting each other and blood flowing like a river?"

"Governor Zhou is right. Regardless of whether Liu Jing has falsely claimed victory, let's open the city gates first! Let the soldiers rest."

Yang Hao shook his head and pointed at Liu Jing who was riding on horseback across the river.

"I'm not being overconfident. I've led troops in Dengzhou for many years and even went to Korea in the Renchen year. I know more about battlefields than you do. Du Song and Ma Lin couldn't even defeat them, so how could Liu Dadao possibly win? It's truly ridiculous! Liu Jing's actions aren't simply a matter of resting in the city; he must have ulterior motives!"

Zhou Yuchun and Wang Keshou exchanged a look of surprise, "An ulterior motive? What could a warrior like him have? His family and relatives are all in Nanchang..."

Before his two colleagues could finish, Yang Hao interrupted them with a wave of his hand, saying, "I don't care what his intentions are. These are extraordinary times, and extraordinary measures must be taken."

After saying this, Yang Hao pointed at the guards on the city wall and shouted angrily, "Without my order, no one is allowed to open the city gates. Anyone who disobeys my order will be executed!"

The southern soldiers on the city wall responded loudly.

Zhou Yuchun left in a huff. Turning back to Wang Keshou, he said, "You're so disregarding human life! You're forcing good people into thieves. Censor Wang, would you be willing to submit a memorial impeaching Yang Jinglüe?"

~~~~~
At the foot of Shenyang City, in the main tent of the Eastern Army, Liu Jing summoned his adopted son Liu Tianxing and several battalion officers and staff to discuss the next steps:

"Now that the old thief refuses to open the city gates, our army only has enough food and fodder to sustain it for a few days. We are stationed under a fortified city. What shall we do?"

Everyone in the tent, except Liu Jing himself, was determined to rebel. It was not because these people were also players from the Eastern World, but because many of them were inexplicably brought onto this pirate ship by Liu Jing. One wrong step led to another, and it was impossible to turn back.

"Father, now that things have come to this, why not drive the nearby Liao people into the city and see if they will open the gates? Yang Hao is a civil servant, so he certainly wouldn't dare to shoot civilians!"

Liu Jing's aide Du Guangting said, "This would completely break off relations. The three armies should move their food supplies before they even start. We should first intercept the imperial rations being shipped to Liaodong. At the same time, we should send envoys to Liaoxi to inquire about Zu Chengxun and invite him to join the uprising."

Liu Jing was quite familiar with his ancestral family. This group of warriors all wanted to be the second Li Chengliang and monopolize Liaodong. It was obviously impossible to ask them to cooperate with him and fish in troubled waters.

Seeing Liu Jing remain silent, Du Guangting continued, "Now that things have come to this, the arrow is on the string and must be shot. I have three plans, good, medium, and bad. I wonder which one General Liu would like to hear."

"explain."

"The best strategy is to write to Jianzhou and agree on a date to conquer Ming together. I'll take Liaoshen, and he'll take Tie and Kai. After the success, we'll support each other..."

"The middle strategy is to launch a surprise attack on southern Liaoning, occupy Gai, Jin, and Lushun, and then plot against Shandong."

"The worst strategy is to besiege Liaoshen and station troops under the strong city..."

Liu Jing waved his hand impatiently, signaling his staff to shut up.

Of these three strategies, except for the worst one, the other two are simply not feasible. Nurhaci would not believe himself unless he could explain to the Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty that he had just traveled through time and was going to rebel after traveling through time.

As for the middle strategy, it sounds even more like a fantasy. The Ming Dynasty's rule in southern Liaoning has not completely collapsed, and they have no navy. Even if they capture southern Liaoning, they will not be able to hold it.

Liu Jing silently said to himself, "I was too impatient. I shouldn't have rebelled after traveling through time. It turns out that the novels were all made up."

(End of this chapter)